2011 Blue Jays Season Thread

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by nik-

Hopefully Hechevarria can learn to hit and we won't need a 2B after all, but it's not looking promising.

Or with how AA works we could flip Rauch, Francisco, Hill, and Cooper for Hanley Ramirez.

[NoCupsIn40Years]

Originally Posted by Caged Great

Lawrie is in the same class of prospect as Rasmus and Snider. Just a matter of time for him to get his shot.

Unf-ing believable that AA was able to pull that one off. It seems like he is getting even better at raping other GM's.

I don't even know why other GM's even answer the phone when he calls.

Now all we need is a SP, a Closer, and a 2nd baseman, although I suppose we could just keep Hill.

C - Arencibia, d'Arnaud
1B - Lind
2B - Hill
SS - Escobar
3B - Lawrie
OF - Snider, Rasmus, Bautista
DH - Thames

Bench - Davis, EE, Teahen, McDonald

We could add another bat possibly like Pujols or Fielder if we wanted. It's starting to look good.

Lineup looks nice, but one major problem for me. Our starting pitching is below average and we need another ace to compete in the AL East. Romero is our borderline ace player, but after that the rest of our staff is far too inconsistent. Morrow is an ideal #3-#4 guy, Cecil looks like he is controlling the zone, an ideal #2 guy, Drabek needs to locate his pitches and start using his other stuff to get batters out. Jury is still out on him, other than that, in the immediate future we have no pitchers than can compete with the Sox and Yankees. AA must pony up for a young ace player like Kershaw or Jimenez. Watching the dodgers game a few nights ago, Kershaw's curve is the best pitch in the league, he dominates batters alone with that pitch, one of the best CB's I've seen. We need a guy where when you know if you bring him on the mound, you'll win the majority of the games. Someone like Doc Halladay.

[Caged Great]

Originally Posted by NoCupsIn40Years

Lineup looks nice, but one major problem for me. Our starting pitching is below average and we need another ace to compete in the AL East. Romero is our borderline ace player, but after that the rest of our staff is far too inconsistent. Morrow is an ideal #3-#4 guy, Cecil looks like he is controlling the zone, an ideal #2 guy, Drabek needs to locate his pitches and start using his other stuff to get batters out. Jury is still out on him, other than that, in the immediate future we have no pitchers than can compete with the Sox and Yankees. AA must pony up for a young ace player like Kershaw or Jimenez. Watching the dodgers game a few nights ago, Kershaw's curve is the best pitch in the league, he dominates batters alone with that pitch, one of the best CB's I've seen. We need a guy where when you know if you bring him on the mound, you'll win the majority of the games. Someone like Doc Halladay.

Definitely, that's the #1 need right now. If we can get another pitcher of Romero's calibre or better then we'll have a solid rotation.

Romero
Other good pitcher
Morrow
Cecil
Drabek

That's fairly decent, and you still will have guys like Deck McGuire ready to come up in case of injuries.

2B is probably the 2nd most important and the pen/closer is 3rd. Relievers are relatively easy to acquire in the offseason and we have a few decent guys like Farqhar and Farina that should get a shot soon as well. Getting a closer will be a bit of a challenge, but we could either bring up one of our fireballing prospects (we have several) and give them some developmental time in the majors or bite the bullet and get another BJ Ryan.

There's still a bit of work to do, but a division contender calibre team is coming together quite quickly and they're mostly all young players too.

Awesome.

[Captaincanada80]

Originally Posted by nik-

Hopefully Hechevarria can learn to hit and we won't need a 2B after all, but it's not looking promising.

Hech was 7 for 11 with 3 RBI and 4 runs scored in yesterdays double header

[nik-]

Originally Posted by Captaincanada80

Hech was 7 for 11 with 3 RBI and 4 runs scored in yesterdays double header

It's nice that he had a good double header, but he's hitting .227 in Double A.

[Trojan97]

What a bust this Rasmus character has turned out to be for the Jays.

[NoCupsIn40Years]

Rasmus looked like he was trying to do too much. Oh well, the win is what counted.

Even if Rasmus ends up as a bust for us, we barely gave anything of value for him so I ain't even mad.

[Caged Great]

The only one that I would regret moving if Rasmus busts is scrabble, but only by a small amount. Everyone else is easily replaceable in the offseason or in the system in Stewart's case.

Between Thames, Snider, and Rasmus, if two of them develop closer to what their potential is, then we'll be in an extremely good spot.

[bluejays]

Glad to have been able to go to tonights game. Rasmus looked ordinary, but it'll take time to change his swing and work out the small things in his game. Jays are suddently looking really good though, so it's nice to give hope to the fans out there.

[Where ru Chris O'Sullivan]

Originally Posted by moon

La Russa is an easy target for mainstream media guys to place the blame on as he isn't exactly the most media friendly guy out there.

That and a horrific Post-Season Record in terms of Titles won? '89, '06? Anyone remember that **** he tried in Oakland, when they were rebuilding, with wanting each pitcher to pitch 3 innings?

[moon]

Originally Posted by Where ru Chris O'Sullivan

That and a horrific Post-Season Record in terms of Titles won? '89, '06? Anyone remember that **** he tried in Oakland, when they were rebuilding, with wanting each pitcher to pitch 3 innings?

Winning two world series with two different teams is now horrific?

[Where ru Chris O'Sullivan]

It is when you consider how many times he's been to the dance, with some of the teams he's managed. Then, when you look in-depth at the times hes won... 'natural disaster in your favor' ['89] and "slow roller to the mound, should be an easy play for the pitcher...." ['06]. He's not of Bobby Cox lore yet, but well on his way.

[Where ru Chris O'Sullivan]

Originally Posted by NoCupsIn40Years

Still not sold on the Marcum trade, we traded our ace for an unproven player. Lawrie needs to come up and contribute before I can claim him as our savior.

I really liked Marcum too, I think he's a better ace than that of Romero, based on mental make-up. But Romero can still grow and when you factor in the arm trouble Marcum had, I think it was a good idea, even though difficult.

[Caged Great]

I think if it wasn't for the fact Marcum is close to being due for a hefty raise soon, along with the injury concerns that he'd still be a jay.

It's one of those things though, that with the amount of depth in the pitching department that the jays have, that they will be able to move players out from the pro team for positions of need once they start getting to the point of making too much money.

Also, the Jays signed Roberto Osuna from the Mexican league. He was #4 on the international prospects list. In that league his ERA is 5.49, but he's pitching against pros and he's 16.

[moon]

Originally Posted by Where ru Chris O'Sullivan

It is when you consider how many times he's been to the dance, with some of the teams he's managed. Then, when you look in-depth at the times hes won... 'natural disaster in your favor' ['89] and "slow roller to the mound, should be an easy play for the pitcher...." ['06]. He's not of Bobby Cox lore yet, but well on his way.

So he is a good enough manager to consistently get his team to the play-offs and now that is looked at as a bad thing?

There are plenty of managers that would love to have the two championships that he has.

And 06 was much more about him making tough decisions to the line-up and benching the little baby Rolen than any slow roller to the mound.

[TurnedTheCorner]

So has Thames played well enough to become an everyday player, or is he still too hot and cold?

[Matty81]

Originally Posted by TurnedTheCorner

So has Thames played well enough to become an everyday player, or is he still too hot and cold?

He definitely looks like an everyday player to me with the bat. He is the most consistent in his approach of any of their young players on a night in night out basis at the plate. I think he might have gone two games in a row without a hit max since getting called up and that hasn't happened often.

D is not great, I was surprised how unpolished he was in the field still and if Lawrie claims 3B and Bautista moves back to RF, I think he would be an ideal candidate to play DH everyday next year and get a day in the field once or twice a week. With Lawrie, Hill, Bautista, Arencibia and Escobar all righties, having lefties Snider, Lind, Rasmus and Thames as the other 4 in the lineup next season is a perfectly balanced attack too.

Only other way I can see the lineup going next year is that he stays there and they let him learn the position while Lawrie moves back to 2B because he looks like he is in the majors to stay if he has another solid month.

[Where ru Chris O'Sullivan]

Originally Posted by moon

So he is a good enough manager to consistently get his team to the play-offs and now that is looked at as a bad thing?

There are plenty of managers that would love to have the two championships that he has.

And 06 was much more about him making tough decisions to the line-up and benching the little baby Rolen than any slow roller to the mound.

With the teams he's had? You or me could have Managed Oakland to that '89 title. In 06 it was more of Detroit unable to make routine plays (Guiness World record for pitchers fielding).For the most part, he's had great players to work with, which didn't help in '04 when his team got swept away. His legacy thus far is one of an innovator, ideas that never really panned out in the long haul. The inability to 'lift' highly talented teams to championships.

[Where ru Chris O'Sullivan]

Aaron Hill is about the only weak link in the lineup atm, have to wonder if/when Lawrie arrives it won't be to play at 2B? What position is Lawrie playing in the minors atm?

Imagine the temptation to keep Bautista at 3B and Thames in OF so they could go get a DH, if there was no 3B option around.

[Gozer]

Lawrie's glove doesn't play at 2nd.
The Jays moved him as soon as they got him, and that is also a consensus from the scouts I've heard on the radio.